Thefirst phase of the laying of pipes from onshore to the Aboadze Thermal Plant in preparation for the final completion of the much-talked about Ghana Gas project would to be completed by the end of the year, the Chief Executive (CEO) of the Ghana Gas Company (GGC), Dr. SipaYankey, has announced.

Currently a total of 10,153 pipes, which would be laid for the gas to flow through, have arrived in separate consignments at the Takoradi Port, and are being offloaded for onward transportation to the project site.

The completion of the first phase of the gas project would see a total of 10,000 pipes beinglaid from the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah to the Aboadze plant, which would eventually see the production of 150 million metric standard cubic feet of gas on a daily basis.

The cost of the first phase of the project is estimated at a whopping sum of $750 million,with 15percent counterpart funding from the Government of Ghana. Dr. SipaYankey, who conducted journalists round the offloading of the consignment at the port, noted that his outfit was working hard to meet the production target.

He also added that the challenges which bedevilled the start of the project, stemming from youth agitations over the siting of the project and land acquisition, have both been cleared, and that the road was now smooth for the completion of the first phase of the project.

It would be recalled that the youth and chiefs of Jomoro, in the early stages of the gas project, kicked against the relocation of the project from the Jomoro district to Ellembelle.

Compensations have also been paid out to land owners who earlier battled the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC) over the cutting down of their crops without appropriate compensation paid out to them.

With these challenges cleared, Dr. SipaYankey further told the media men and women that the project would be completed as scheduled.

The minor challenge which might confront the project was the standard and quality of the pipes supplied for the project. The pipes are being supplied by Sinopec International Petroleum Company from China, and they are in charge of the laying of the gas pipes. Unfortunately, some of the pipes are of inferior quality.

But Dr. SipaYankey called on Ghanaians to see that as a minor issue, because the defective pipes would not be used for the project.